


I Like Me Better (When I'm With You)

by siseondul



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life, Slow-ish burn, Summer Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:38:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15913080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siseondul/pseuds/siseondul
Summary: Cai Xukun is ready to have the most boring summer ever. That is, until a certain Zhu Zhengting walks into his life.





	I Like Me Better (When I'm With You)

Xukun looked at the clock on the wall and silently cheered. It was almost midnight, which meant that he could finally pack up and close down the convenience store he worked at. It had been another long and unforgiving day for him, and he was more than ready to go home.

He’d accepted long ago that working long hours at the convenience store and going straight home was just what his summer was going to be like. All his friends were either vacationing somewhere cool, working, or at summer camp. It was his last summer at home before uni, and he was getting bored out of his mind. The only thing getting him through it all was the thought of him being able to cash all his salary cheques to buy a new microphone.

He’d only just started wrapping things up and switching off the lights when he heard the soft jingle of bells, signalling someone’s entry into the store. “Who the fuck enters a store enters a store 10 minutes before closing time? Asshole.” He muttered to himself.

“Come on Cai, you got this. Only 10 more minutes.” He told himself as he walked towards the front of the store. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Fan Chengcheng, accompanied by a slender boy who looked like a pixie. He was by far the most attractive person Xukun had ever seen, and it caught him off guard a little bit.

“Asshole!” Xukun screamed as he tackled Chengcheng, hitting his back playfully. “What are you doing here?” He asked him.

Chengcheng laughed. “I was showing my cousin Zhengting around. He just got here today from uni, and I wanted to make sure I introduced you two to each other before I leave for camp tomorrow morning.”

Xukun suddenly felt very conscious about how tired and awful he probably looked, and he tried to discreetly smoothen his hair in an attempt to make himself look more presentable. He’d only known Zhengting for two minutes, but somehow, he wanted to impress him.

"It's really nice to meet you, Zhengting. If you ever need anything while Cheng's gone, or even if you just want to hang out or whatever, I've got you covered." He stretched out his hand so he could shake Zhengting's. 

"That's so sweet of you, Xukun. It's really nice to know that I already have a friend here." Zhengting told him, returning his handshake. 

"You have...really nice and soft hands." Xukun said, instantly regretting the words as they came out of his mouth. His brain to mouth filter had failed him when he needed it the most. 

Chengcheng was giving him a weird stare, and he wanted the ground to swallow him up, but when Zhengting smiled the sweetest smile he'd ever seen and thanked him profusely, he figured that maybe it wasn't the  _worst_ thing he'd ever done. 

 *

It was half past midnight, Xukun had finally closed the store, and the three boys were sitting in an open field, devouring ice cream. “Yes to be dramatic, but this is _the_ best ice cream I’ve ever had!” Zhengting giggled as he tried (and failed) to stop the melting ice cream from staining his clothes.

“I cant believe dumbass Chengcheng over here hadn’t taken you to Frosty Freez yet. It’s only the best ice cream joint in the world, and they’re open 24 hours so night owls like me can get our fix anytime.” Xukun told him.

“Don’t make me look bad, He just got here today!” Chengcheng whined. He suddenly elbowed Xukun, and soon they were both caught in an elbowing war which sent them rolling down the slope in the field.

Zhengting, not one to miss out on the action, gracefully cartwheeled down the slope, and landed straight into them. The three of them became a tangled mess of limbs, and were laughing so hard their faces were red.

“Race to the end of the field! Loser has to buy everyone another round of ice cream!” Zhengting screamed suddenly, and extracted himself from the other two and began to run.

As Xukun ran across the field, laughing and trying to push Chengcheng and Zhengting out of his way so he could sabotage their chances of winning, he realised that this was the happiest and lightest he’d felt in a long time.

*

“KUNKUN!” Xukun’s mother screamed as she knocked on his door wildly, making him nearly fall off the bed in shock. “KUNKUN WAKE UP!!”

The urgency in her voice caught Xukun off guard. She was normally an extremely relaxed person, especially this early in the morning, so this could only mean that he had done something wrong.

“KUNKUN!!” Her voice rang through the walls. “COME DOWNSTAIRS NOW, PLEASE!!” Fuck. Maybe she’d found his hentai collection. Maybe she and the local priest were downstairs, and they were going to stage an intervention for him.

Xukun climbed down the stairs slowly, praying to every god that he knew, but once he reached the bottom he was pleasantly surprised to see Zhu Zhengting sitting in his living room, drinking tea and making small talk with his mother.

“Morning Kun!” Zhengting chirped. Xukun tried to ignore how his cheeks heated up a little at the sound of Zhengting calling him Kun.

“Sup? What are you doing here?” He asked Zhengting.

“Kunkun! How rude.” His mother chided. “You didn’t tell me that Chengcheng’s cousin was in town. I would’ve called the Fans over and held a nice welcome dinner for Zhengting..” She trailed off.

“Sorry Ma. Sorry Zhengting. You know I’ve been busy.” Xukun said sheepishly.

Xukun’s mother was always extremely enthusiastic about new people coming to their small town. She was the self appointed head of the resident welfare committee, and she always took great pains to ensure that anyone new was welcomed appropriately.

“A welcome dinner sounds really nice, Mrs. Cai. I would really appreciate that.” Zhengting said.

“Perfect! I’ll start planning the menu. I’ll leave you boys alone now.”

Xukun nearly groaned when he saw the little wink his mother gave him as she walked out of the living room.

“Zhengting, I’m sorry for being such an asshole. I just realised I never really asked you why you came to town.” Xukun scratched his head sheepishly.

Zhengting smiled. “Oh, that’s okay! We barely got to talk yesterday anyway.”

Xukun served Zhengting another round of tea.

“I’m a dance major at a university in the city. I eventually want to get into teaching and choreography, so when my aunt told me that there was an opening for a dance teacher at the community centre here, I thought I’d come and teach for the summer. It’s a great way for me to gain some experience while making some money.” Zhengting said.

“That’s so cool! I’m not much of a dancer but maybe you can convert me.” Xukun said with a playful smirk.

“Challenge accepted.” Zhengting smirked back, and met Xukun’s gaze. They held eye contact for a few seconds, and Xukun’s neck started heating up a little.

“Uh..” Xukun said dumbly, completely losing control of his brain and tongue.

“Actually, I came here to ask you something.” Zhengting broke eye contact. “There’s a recital at the end of the summer, where I get to perform in front of an audience. One of my professors said she’ll be there too, so I really want to go all out with my performance. That’s why I need to hire your services.”

“Hire..my services?” Xukun asked hesitantly. He racked his brain trying to figure out what in the world Zhengting could possibly mean.

Zhengting chuckled. “Chengcheng told me that you’re really good at music production, and that's what you’re going to be majoring in. I wanted to hire you to compose a song for me, something that I can choreograph for my recital.”

Xukun gave himself a minute to absorb the news. “Holy shit that.. that sounds amazing.” He couldn’t help but smile. Music was his life, and if he wasn’t working or sleeping, he was making music.

“I’d love to make a song for you. And you don’t have to pay me or anything, I’ll do it for free. Anything to help Chengcheng’s cousin.”

Zhengting smiled a dazzling smile, one that reached the corners of his eyes, and showed all his perfect teeth, and it nearly blinded Xukun.

“I really can’t thank you enough. I know an original composition will give my dance the depth and raw emotion it needs to really make it stand out.” Zhengting said excitedly, the smile refusing to leave his face.

“This is actually the first time I’m making a song for someone else, you know.” Xukun said shyly. “I normally just follow my instincts and take inspiration from my surroundings, but this is different. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

“So I’m your first?” Zhengting asked Xukun cheekily as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah.” Xukun laughed. “You’re my first.”

“I’m glad.” Zhengting said softly as he patted Xukun's hand.

“I’ll come by the dance studio tomorrow so we can brainstorm about what kind of song you want it to be, and all that jazz. My creative process requires me to interact a lot with my muse, which in this case is you, so you’re going to be stuck spending a lot of time with me.” Xukun let him know.

“Honestly, Kun? I’m really looking forward to that.”

With a wink, a wave and a quick goodbye, Zhengting was gone.

And as Xukun watched Zhengting walk out the door, he realised that maybe his summer wasn’t going to be that boring after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is going to be a chaptered fic, and I will post updates as frequently as possible. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! ♡♡


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